Nord Stage 2 HA88 Stage Piano (88-Key)
With an interface made for live performance, a hammer-action keybed, and Nord's deep sound set of pianos, electric pianos and organs, the Stage 2 has it all.
Overall User Ratings (based on 3 ratings)
Submitted December 31, 2011 by a customer from yahoo.com
"A pianist's dream! World's finest stage piano, road rugged, quality built inside and out."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I can see having this instrument for at least 10 years - its that good, and that solid. If it were lost or stolen, there's absolutely no question that it would be identically replaced.
Sound
I'm mainly a pianist and this is by far the BEST stage piano (or ANY digital piano for that matter) that I've ever played. The action is fantastic, key travel is deep for awesome expressive playing. I also own a Korg Kronos which I thought had the best piano until I played the Nord... not even close, the Nord Stage 2 is far above the Kronos for its piano.
Features
The ability to be able to fine tune, or shape the sound in realtime, without having to go through menus is just so natural a way of doing it that you don't even have to think. You're not distracted from playing, or from any ideas with complicated menuing systems. Knobs & buttons - can't get much simpler (or more user friendly) than that!
Ease of Use
Like any instrument, there's a learning curve. But without cracking a manual open, you can get what you need out of this instrument until you want to go further... that's when you crack the manual.
Quality
This is the most solid keyboard instrument I've ever come across, and I've owned at least a dozen different keybaords in the past decade, and played on even more (Yamaha, Roland, Alesis, Korg, Kurzweil, Privia, etc). If you want reliable and road rugged, this is the instrument. I'm afraid to transport my Korg Kronos, but the Nord Stage 2 is built like a tank.
Value
Its pricey, but once you play it you'll be hooked... once you compare it to other instruments in the same class its a no-brainer. Well worth the extra $$ if you can come up with it.
Manufacturer Support
I had a basic question that I submitted to Nord Support in Sweden. Within 2 hours, a support person in the United States (where I'm located) emailed back with my answer. That's impressive! I have yet to see that kind of support from the larger companies.
The Wow Factor
The realism of the pianos is simply unmatched by any other instrument of its class. Grand pianos, concert grands, uprights, you name it... its all there with amazing realism. The other sound samples (ie: organs) are amazing, and so are the synths. The ability to constantly upgrade the sound samples with QUALITY sound samples (for FREE from the Nord website) is worth the extra $$ alone!
Musical Background:
Classically trained from ages 6 thru 15. Been playing piano all my life (for decades)!
Musical Style:
Classically based, but play just about everything (except jazz)
63 of 65 people (97%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Please wait.